194 t h e a n n a l s o f k i n g t’a e j o
“We have heard that a ruler who wants to preserve the state must love the
people first and in order to love the people must practice frugality first. To
respect frugality and remove extravagance is a sure way to save property,
and to reduce taxes and rectify abusive laws is a sure way to love the
people.
“The sage rules in olden days determined the amount of tributes after
calculating the production of the land and, after calculating the tributes that
were paid, decided the extent of their expenditure. Since this is an unalter-
able principle, one who is in charge of the state must pay attention to it,
especially at the beginning when the dynasty is founded.
“King T’aejo, the founder of the previous dynasty, rose up against the
tyrannous extravagance of T’aebong^48 and established the precedent of
saving goods and practicing frugality. However, it lasted no more than two
generations, and, starting from King Kwangjong,^49 luxury and extrava-
gance reached their worst level, so that the king’s annual expenditure for
maintaining the royal palace and foods and clothes equaled ten years’ annual
expenditure of the founder king T’aejo. This is an example of a law made to
promote frugality actually producing abuses of avarice to the contrary.
“Towards the end of the dynasty, the avarice grew much worse, and the
government levied more taxes by changing laws. However, the taxes col-
lected that way were wasted on public works or the services to Buddha. As
the public treasury became empty, and the government had no money to
spend, more extra taxes were levied and extorted until the people starved
and dispersed, and the dynasty fell. At a time when we try to reform the
government, we must straighten out those abuses.
“Having examined the old records of lands, we decided the grades of
tribute taxes, but we made it our rule to reduce their amount compared to- T’aebong is another name of the Later Koguryŏ, founded by Kungye in 901. Originally
a Silla prince, Kungye at first became a monk but eventually succeeded in seizing power as
Silla became caught up in political turmoil. - Kwangjong (949–975 AD): the fourth king of Koryŏ. Soon after he ascended the
throne, he enacted a series of reforms, including the Slave Review Act, the Stipend Land Law,
and changes in the civil service examination, adopting the proposal of the Chinese scholar
Shuang Chi in 958. These reforms were intended to undermine the strength of old military
officials who had contributed to the founding of the Koryŏ dynasty, assisting his father and
founder king T’aejo. As expected, the discontent of old civil and military officials became
formidable, and he reacted to it with a merciless purge. His extravagance mentioned here per-
haps had to do with his efforts to enlist the support of Buddhist monks and common people in
order to counter the complaints of those officials.